Clemson Football: Upset Checklist for Wake Forest against the Tigers

We’ve spent countless hours talking about how much Clemson football is favored by coming into the match-up with Wake Forest.

We’ve published plenty of content breaking down which youngsters will get to play and even breaking down the second-string quarterback position because- in reality- we all believe that we’ll get to see both Taisun Phommachanh and D.J. Uiagalelei tonight.

But, every week- just for a few minutes- we at Rubbing the Rock like to get into the heads of the Clemson football opponent. We like to look at players who can potentially have a big game against the Tigers and even craft a game plan as to what a ‘perfect storm’ would look like against the Tigers.

As we prepare for the season-opening match-up, here is Wake Forest’s upset checklist against Clemson football.
• Catch the Tigers napping or unfocused to begin play
• Create multiple turnovers and don’t turn the ball over
• Sam Hartman has to play out of his mind
• Have a couple of bounces go your way (trick play, penalty at the right time, an unfortunate drop, etc.)
• Slow down the offensive attack and eat up clock

Honestly, even that list of things above might not be enough for Wake Forest to beat Clemson.

If Wake wants any chance, they’ve got to hope that Clemson comes out a bit unfocused or careless. The Demon Deacons will need to force multiple turnovers and play near-perfect games on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball.

Offensively, they need to slow it down and eat clock and defensively they’ve got to have some things bounce their way. They can’t have missed tackles or give up big plays.

Even if all those things happen, Wake Forest will have to hold on and hope because it still may not be enough to beat the Tigers.

Clemson is just that much more talented than Wake in basically every single facet of the game. The Tigers have depth and there’s a reason that they are listed as 33-point favorites heading into the match-up.